A man like you makes a bee out of a gnat--a bee that brings
honey to the hive. Of course a man must choose carefully."

"How, pray?"

"First see the parents and then the child. A girl who has grown up
surrounded by good habits, in the house of a sensible father and a
virtuous mother--"

"And where in this city am I to find such a miracle? Nay, nay, Leukippe,
for the present all shall be left to my old woman. We both do our duty,
we are satisfied with each other and--"

"And time is flying," said the housekeeper, interrupting her master in
his speech. "You are nearly thirty-five years of age, and the girls--"

"Let them be! let them be! They will find other men! Now send Cyrus with
my shoes and cloak, and have my litter got ready, for Paulina has been
kept waiting long enough."

The way from the architect's house to his sister's was long, and on
his way he found ample time for reflection on various matters besides
Leukippe's advice to marry. Still, it was a woman's face and form
that possessed him heart and soul; at first, however, he did not feel
inclined to feast his fancy on Balbilla's image, lovely as it appeared
to him; on the contrary, with self-inflicted severity he sought
everything in her which could be thought to be opposed to the highest
standard of feminine perfections. Nor did he find it difficult to detect
many defects and deficiencies in the Roman damsel; still he was forced
to admit that they were quite inseparable from her character, and that
she would no longer be what she was, if she were wholly free from them.
Each of her little weaknesses presently began to appear as an additional
charm to the stern man who had himself been brought up in the doctrine
of the Stoics.

He had learnt by experience that sorrow must cast its shadow over the
existence of every human being; but still, the man to whom it should be
vouchsafed to walk through life hand-in-hand with this radiant child of
fortune could, as it seemed to him, have nothing to look forward to but
pure sunshine. During his journey to Pelusium and his stay there he had
often thought of her, and each time that her image had appeared to his
inward eye he had felt as though daylight had shone in his soul. To have
met her he regarded as the greatest joy of his life, but he dared not
aspire to claim her as his own.

He did not undervalue himself and knew that he might well be proud of
the position he had won by his own industry and talents; and sti